Sunday, September 10, 2006
Nation needs therapy for post-9/11 stress
The best description I have for the effect of psychological trauma on a person borrows from the language of electronics.
In essence, at the time of a traumatic event (defined as the experience of some type of life-threatening situation), the brain becomes “hard-wired.” Specifically, the person will be virtually trapped in what may be called a “flight or flight” response, with any type of environmental stimulus instantly triggering the brain back to that moment of danger.
The mental health profession has named this phenomenon “post-traumatic stress disorder,” or PTSD, which is experienced by victims of rape and other violence, combat veterans and those that have been through catastrophes of all kinds.
The various psychotherapy treatments for PTSD have in common the goal of “de-sensitizing” to the stimulus, helping the victim get more emotional distance on the event, thereby keeping the brain from going into panic mode. The goal is not to erase the event from memory, but to change “how” it is remembered.
The victims of 9/11 included people in the planes, in the buildings, their friends and family. Certainly, many of those who survived will have the clinical symptoms of PTSD described above. But because of the magnitude and scale of the attacks, would it be possible for an entire nation to experience its own form of PTSD?
I believe this is possible, and we continue to deal with the aftermath five years later. Fear turns into anger, anger into hatred, all this pointed not just at the shadowy terrorists but toward each other. Turn on the TV, watch as we yell at each other about the wars and their meaning. Notice how we are suspicious of anyone that looks different or thinks different than we do. We call them “fascists” or accuse them of “supporting the enemy.” No need to get to know someone personally; we have them pegged by the bumpersticker on their car.
As a nation, we need
our therapy to help us through our trauma, and we are all the therapists. Every positive political action brings us closer together, giving us comfort and security, desensitizing us to the fear that created “us vs. them” in the first place. These actions include not only voting and speaking for our hopes, but more subtle ways to create relationship and safety. Go to your neighborhood parties. Make more friends, even those with whom you disagree. Stop calling names, start conversations.
I often see signs and bumperstickers with the message “Remember 9/11” and am bemused. There is no way to forget it; it’s burned into our collective soul. But we do have a choice in “how” it is remembered. Do we get stuck in a moment of trauma, fear, anger, hatred? Or do we use 9/11 as an impetus to get past the fear, into a future of respect for ourselves and the world?
Dean Saner is a clinical psychologist, and one of 14 Tribune Community Columnists, whose writing appears on the Sunday Opinion pages.
